Misconceptions and Myths
Myth: The contestants in Season 1 were American residents that the show flew into Hilversum. Fact: This article seems to imply that the contestants were actually Americans living abroad in the Netherlands. Myth: One team in Season 1 got only one word in Bonus Lingo and couldn't have possibly formed a Lingo due to the different format. Fact: Aside from the infamous $0 win on August 26, 2002, the lowest win in Season 1 was $200 on the first August 5, 2002 show and on August 13, 2002. Due to the format, however, it was possible for a team with two pulls to be unable to form a Lingo after the first pull, but this didn't happen in either instance. Myth: The Season 2 episode that ends in a tie with contestants John, Laura, Liz, and Christopher was originally aired on February 25, 2003. Fact: This episode (#1023) was originally aired on January 24, 2003. This misconception likely stems from the fact that a new episode of Lingo was not aired the night of January 23, 2003 due to Game Show Network's Confessions of a Gong Show Marathon taking over Lingo's 9 PM timeslot. In spite of this, the episode was quietly aired at 3 PM the next day, a timeslot that was usually occupied by a rerun of the previous night's first-run episode. As a result of this, many episode guides missed the episode until it was reran in the 9 PM timeslot on February 25, 2003, which was during a week that otherwise consisted of new episodes. Myth: Once, there was a team that won $700 in Bonus Lingo and caused an astonished Chuck to reach into the hopper himself, where he drew the only ball that did not form a Lingo. Fact: The fact that $600 was the highest three-digit amount ever won in Bonus Lingo debunks this myth from the get-go, but the closest situation to the scenario described in the myth occurred on January 7, 2003 (#1061), infamously known as the episode with future political mistress Rielle Hunter as a contestant. Patricia and Rielle had earned five pulls in Bonus Lingo, but failed to form a Lingo with all five numbers. Chuck allowed Patricia to draw another ball to see if they would have formed a Lingo with an additional pull, but they still wouldn't have formed a Lingo. Chuck then jokingly reached into the hopper himself and pulled out a ball that would have formed a Lingo before oddly placing it back in the hopper. Myth: The delayed Hawaii Week in Season 4 offered a trip to Hawaii as the top prize. Fact: The top prize was still the normal $10,000 cash at the time. It was famously won by contestants Robert and Heather on the third-aired (but fourth-produced) episode of the week (#3049). Myth: The show was cancelled in 2007. Fact: While the final first-run episode originally aired on June 29, 2007, the show was not officially cancelled until March 6, 2008. On this date, a GSN spokeswoman announced that no more episodes of the series would be produced in 2008. Interestingly enough, she also said "We have six seasons of 'Lingo' which we are going to continue to broadcast." However, Season 1 has not been broadcast on a regular basis since 2005.